By: Dan Layton ‘25 – published in Fall 2024 Issue 1
It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon at Hickey Field for the double header for both the men’s and women’s soccer teams. Both teams left their games with something to celebrate, despite the women’s team not getting the win that they wanted.
For Men’s Soccer, the team was coming off of an impressive 3-0 victory over New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) and they were looking to ride that momentum going into their MAAC opener against Saint Peter’s. It was an all around team effort for the Saints, who controlled 74% of possession throughout the match.
Not only did they control the possession, they out shot the Peacocks by a whopping twenty one shots and put up twenty eight shots. This was the highest number of shots the Saints have had in a single game since 2022, when they put up thirty nine shots against the University of Hartford. Leading the Saints in shots was senior midfielder Zach Garder, who put up six shots with five of them being on target. Gardner also scored the opening goal of the game, his second of the season. In the second half, the Saints continued to pour it on with an outstanding goal from sophomore midfielder Lee Mara, who scored from twenty yards out, sending Hickey Field into a frenzy. Head coach Graciano Brito was pleased with his team’s performance, mentioning that every win in MAAC play matters, with how little games they have in their conference schedule. “It was very important to start [with a win] especially with the way that the schedule set up with eight games out of thirteen teams, so it’s very important for us to get the three points” said Brito. The Saints head over to Niagara to take on the Purple Eagles on October 5th and take on new MAAC foe Merrimack on October 12th.
The women’s soccer team was looking to bounce back against the MAAC leader Fairfield after their loss against the two time defending MAAC champions Quinnipiac after a 1-0 shutout, which snapped their three game winning streak. It was senior day for the three seniors on the team, Francesca Gerbasi, Ryleigh Hopeck and Cora Keohane, who each were a part of the starting eleven. But, it was the performance from the freshman that stood out the most on senior day. Facing a 1-0 deficit early, freshman midfielder Catherine Rogers ripped her MAAC leading seventh goal of the season to tie the game. Rogers is now leading the MAAC in goals, shots and points. And now has received her fourth MAAC Rookie of the Week honors, a Siena program record. Head Coach Steve Karbowski was proud of his team for overcoming the adversity that they faced in the beginning of the game. “I think it was a great effort from the team. We gave up an early goal, so that’s tough to overcome sometimes. But, we kind of stabilized things and played it pretty even the rest of the half and then got a goal to tie it up.” Karbowski said. The Saints will have a two game road trip for their next two games against new MAAC opponent Merrimack and Saint Peter’s.